I just had to pipe in and comment on the new 2-disc Legacy Edition reissue 
of Matthew Sweet's "Girlfriend".

Matthew is one of my favorite artists ever - EVER - and even though I 
already had both "Girlfriend" and the promo-only "Goodfriend" companion 
piece that's bundled into this new edition, I leapt at the chance to 
purchase it. There were two reasons: 1) the music has been remastered, and 
2) the liner notes.

Like many of you out there, I'm a sucker for well-written and informative 
booklets included with CDs. And this new edition has a *ton* of info 
included, about the genesis of Matthew as a power pop icon, the 
circumstances that influenced a lot of the songwriting, the reason for the 
cover art, and how close the album came to never even being released! 
Several press photos from the shoots for the album art are included, 
interspersed amongst the liner notes. And then the booklet ends with 
complete lyrics for all the songs. Excellent!

And the sound... it sounds so clear! So pristine!!! It's like listening to 
it again for the first time. There are all sorts of little flourishes and 
details I'm noticing between the two channels, guitar bits and deeper vocal 
choruses (chori?) and all sorts of things.

The first disc, which contains the original "Girlfriend" album, also has 
three bonus tracks. These were included on the original "Girlfriend" CD 
single, and it's nice to have them here. Disc 2 is the aforementioned 
"Goodfriend", a promo disc that was released after "Girlfriend" became a 
hit. It contains demos, live tracks, and other Sweet goodies that were gifts 
to the retailers and radio people who gave the album airtime and made 
"Girlfriend" the hit it was.

I'm recommending this highly, both for Sweet fans and power pop fans. 
"Girlfriend" is one of the best albums ever recorded - definitely one of the 
top 90s albums - and this new edition delivers big-time.

Don

NP: Sirius - Pure Jazz 72